What Everyone Should Know About Shariah

The newest buzzword these days is 'Shariah.' As several states
scramble to pass legislation to outlaw Shariah, a hyped fear and
persistent confusion surrounds this loaded term. Most people who speak
passionately against Shariah do not, in reality, understand it and
often reduce it to merely a penal code. This introduction describes
the universal principles of Shariah and itsholistic approach. It
furtherhighlights misconceptions about Shariah in order to address the
concerns currently surrounding this topic.
Shariah is an integral part of Islam. It is often defined as 'Islamic
law,' causing one to assume that it consists mostly of criminal
rulings and penalties. However, Shariah encompasses much more than the
conventional understanding of law. While Shariah provides the legal
framework for the foundation and functioningof a society, it also
details moral, ethical, social and political codes of conduct for
Muslims at an individual and collective level.
Islam is a faith that every prophet sent by God preached to his
people, culminating in the message brought by the final prophet,
Muhammad, peace be upon him (pbuh), in the 7th century in Arabia.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) called people towards the belief in one God
and encouragedthem to be just and compassionate to one another. In
Islam's holy book, the Quran (also spelled 'Koran'), God explains that
he sent Muhammad (pbuh) as a source of mercy for humanity: "And We
have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds."
(21: 107)
His mandate for mercy is symbolic of the overall message of Islam. The
Quran states, "O mankind! There hath come to you a direction from your
Lord and a healing for the (diseases) in your hearts, and for those
who believe, a guidance and a Mercy." (10:57)
In the same spirit, the essence of Shariah is also characterized by
mercy andcompassion. The very purpose of Shariah is to facilitate the
individual andthe community to establisha relationship with God and
one another. Its rules and regulations are designed to benefit and
protect all members of the society. God declares in theQuran, "O you
who believe!Stand out firmly for justice,as witnesses to Allah, even
as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin…"(4:135)
According to Ibn al-Qayyim(d. 1350), one of the great scholars, "The
Shariah in itsentirety is justice, mercy and benefit. So any issue
that leads from justice to injustice, or mercy to its opposite, or
benefit to harm, then it is not from the Shariah, even if someone
thought that it is."
Mercy and compassion are the essence of Shariah, which is designed to
protect all members of society and to improve the condition of
humanity. It isreported that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, "Show
mercy to those on earth, so that He who is in the Heavens (God) will
show mercy to you."
Shariah is an Arabic word that literally means a 'vast road leading to
an uninterrupted source of water.' Figuratively, it refers to a clear,
straight path, as mentioned in the following Quranic verse: "Then We
put you, [O Muhammad], on a straight way concerning the matter[of
religion]; so follow it and do not follow the inclinations of those
who do not know." (45:18) Hence, Shariah is the practical guidance
Muslims live by. It is rooted in the divine teachings of Islam and
relates to all aspects oflife. Its collective aim is to facilitate
justice and benefit for humanity in thislife and the hereafter.
Shariah is derived from thescholarly study of Islamic texts. These
texts include the final revelation from God (Quran) and the recorded
teachings of Prophet Muhammad (Sunnah) which are timeless and of
divine origin. However, scholars derive specific rulings from the
revealed texts by usinghuman effort and interpretation, taking into
account the surrounding context. As such, Shariah relies on scholarly
consensus, legal analogy, and interpretive reasoning in deciding
rulings. Hence, there are areas of Shariah where the scholars
unanimously agree due to clearly defined evidence and areas where
disagreements exist. This flexibility enables Shariah to maintain its
applicabilityand relevance in the light of changing social,
cultural,and historical circumstances, while remaining faithful to the
guiding principles of Shariah and its core objectives.
Objectives of Shariah
To fulfill its intrinsic goal ofachieving benefit and justice, Shariah
sets forth certain timeless principles, which deal with the necessary,
supplementary, and voluntary realms of human lived experience.

Success in My Own Room

When I woke up this morning I asked myself:
"What are some of the secrets of success in life?"
I found the answer right there in my very room:
The fan said : Be cool.
The roof said : Aim high.
The window said : See the world.
The clock said : Every minute is precious.
The mirror said : Reflect before you act.
The door said : Push hard for your goals.
And finally, the carpet said :Kneel down and pray.

STORY - ~ It is not just all work at DU

With just days to go beforethe last date for submission of admission
forms, these girls brave theheat filling up their forms at Delhi
University on Wednesday. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Many colleges offer a number of extra-curricular activities
Can you count the number of times you have heard the words "Delhi
University" and "90 per cent" together? Most people in the age bracket
of 17 years and 19 years applying for admissions cannot.
These people also feel the school they just left behindwith its
super-competitive basketball games, even more competitive choir
competitions and umpteenother activities that once defined their whole
existence, is lost forever. They are wrong.
"We have the debating society, the English literary society, the fine
arts society, the hiking club, thephotography society, the wildlife
society and a history society among many others. All these societies
have a staff advisor and the remaining members are students," said St.
Stephen's College teacher Karen Gabrielle.
She added that their winter fest, their annual Shakespeare stage
production and the annual music competition was something the students
looked forward to every year.
"Throughout the year there is always something going on, there are no
restrictions for any studenton the number of activitiesbut there is so
much going on in each society that a student can manage a maximum of
four," she said.
St. Stephen's College has itsown admission procedure that is set apart
from the university. Its application form asks whether you have any
interest in a particular activity but thereis no separate ECA quota.
However, this can work to your advantage.
"Every student is welcome to any activity, provided there is some sort
of demonstrative skill and instinct in the student," said Ms.
Gabrielle.
Ramjas College is, however,most proud of its debating team.
"Our debating society has been winning constantly atalmost every
inter-college debate for the past five years. It is the most popular
activity among ourstudents," said Cultural Coordinator and Botany
teacher Madhumitha Banerjee, who added that they had an extra
curricular activities (ECA) quota that required concrete proof of past
achievements to be eligibleto apply in addition to passing the college
trials.
However, she said that there are plenty of opportunities for students
with no background in the any of the college's popular activities like
music, dramatics and debate among others.
" Some of our best students in the past who have won several
competitions for us, have been those who have never taken part in
anything in school," she said, adding that the college will be taking
auditions for several activities within a few weeks into the new term
and that the interested student must remain alert for dates and such.
Another college that does not have an ECA quota is the Shri Ram
College of Commerce which, they say,works to the advantage of the
student as everybody is at an equal footing and eligible to compete.
"The dramatic festival, 'Histrionica,' with its series of stage and
street plays is a big hit every year. The 'Shri Ram Debating Festival'
is another traditional event with Parliamentary, spot and conventional
debates. This goes back several years and usually happens around
February," said Cultural Co-ordinator and English professor S. K.
Choudhury.
"However, since we are a commerce college we havespecific events like
the annual college festival, 'cross-routes' which has a week-long
business conclave where industry leaders speak and there are business
quizzes and games." The college's commerce and economics societies are
the most coveted as are the foreign programmes that allow students to
travel to countries like Japan, Australia and the Netherlands to
compete.
Miranda House, with a hostof activities like debate, dramatics and
fine arts has an ECA quota and the last date of applying being June 30
by 1 p.m.
"The trials will be held on July 4 and 5, with admissions scheduled
for July 6 and 7," said PrincipalPrathiba Jolly.
ECA and sports forms are being sold in almost every college of the
university, save a few that do not have quotas.
Sale of forms dips
With only five more days to go, the sale of application forms at Delhi
University dipped to 5,000 on Wednesday. The last date for applying is
June 18.
"This is not counting onlinesales of 4,000 forms," said Dean of
Students' Welfare Prof. J.M. Khurana, adding that over all online
sales sofar had touched 22,000.
Interestingly, ever since the sale of application forms opened on June
4, more than one lakh copies have been sold for the 54,000 seats that
are available in the university.

Science & Tech: - - China's manned spacecraft in final preparations for mid-June launch

JIUQUAN, Gansu, June 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Shenzhou-9 manned
spacecraft is in final preparations for its launch in mid-June, paving
the way for China's first manned space docking mission, as well as the
country's first space mission featuring a femaleastronaut.
The mission will feature the country's first attempt at manual space
docking with the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module, aswell as tasks to be
completed aboard the Tiangong-1 by astronauts from the Shenzhou-9,
space experts said at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest
China's Gobi desert.
China will launch the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft sometime in mid-June, a
spokesperson said last Saturday.
"The launch of the Shenzhou-9 is a highly influential event that marks
an important milestone for the development of China's space
technology," Cui Jijun, director of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch
Center, said on Wednesday.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the creationof China's manned
space program, which was officially initiated on Sept. 21, 1992. The
launch of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraftmarks the program's 10th launch and
the country's fourth manned spaceflight.
China aims to build a space station around 2020based on the space
rendezvous and docking technology that is currently being tested.
Several components will be sent into space separately before being
assembled into a space station through a variety of docking
procedures.
"In the Russian and USA space programs, the most serious docking
problems have been caused by automatic docking systems, more so than
by manual docking," said Pat Norris, chairman of the Royal
Aeronautical Society Space Group.
"China has taken the prudent course of verifying new space technology
in robotic flights before applying it to human space missions,"he
said, referring to last November's unmanned Shenzhou-8 mission to test
docking technology, as well as four unmanned missions that took place
before the launch of the Shenzhou-5, which took astronaut Yang Liwei
into space in 2003 and orbited Earth 14 times.
"China is only the third nation to launch humans into space, which is
a very impressive achievement," said Norris, who is also a member of
the Executive Committee of the UK Parliamentary Space Committee.
FULL PREPARATIONS
The Command Hall of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is in "ready
to launch" status, according to launch center commander Wang Jun, who
will be responsible for turning the ignition key during the actual
launch.
A full-system drill was held on Tuesday, with all systems relevant to
the mission found to be in full operating condition, Cui said.
He added that a sound emergency plan is in placeand comprehensive
escapedrills have been conductedto ensure the safety of thethree
astronauts aboard.
The target module Tiangong-1 was brought down to docking orbit in
early June and is ready for docking attempts by the Shenzhou-9 and
Shenzhou-10 spacecraft, according to a spokesperson from China'smanned
space program.
The three astronauts havebeen "strictly quarantined" so as to
guarantee their physical and psychological condition, according to Lu
Jinrong, chief engineer at the Jiuquan center.
"We cannot see them or get in touch with them. Allwe can do is provide
support for their life and work," Lu said.
Although the construction of another launch center in southern China's
island province of Hainan is well under way, the Jiuquan center will
continue to be used to send manned spacecraft into space, while heavy
components to be used to build the space station will be launched at
the Hainan center, Lu said, adding that the Jiuquan center will
"constantly adapt to new missions."
HIGH TEMPS POSE THREAT
"This launch marks the first time for a Chinese spacecraft to be
launched during the hot summer weather," Cui said.
The previous nine launches -- from the launch of the Shenzhou-1 to the
Tiangong-1 -- took place in spring, autumn or winter, he said.
For the Shenzhou-9 mission, high temperatures will pose a threat to
the craft, as the ship's propellant can vaporize in excessively high
temperatures. Efforts have been made to cool the propellant to around
15 degrees Celsius, "the best temperature before launch," Cui said.
"Summer is a good choice for the launch time," he said, as
thunderstorms seldom occur near Jiuquanduring the summer. Springand
winter bring sandstorms and extremelylow temperatures to the area,
respectively.